Winter's Coming And Thousands Are Homeless After Tornadoes

Along with the stories of incredible destruction and heart-breaking losses, Tuesday's reports about the aftereffects of Sunday's tornadoes in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and other parts of the Midwest make this ominous point:

"[The] unfortunate thing is this thing hit in November," Mayor Gary Manier of Washington, Ill., said Tuesday on Morning Edition. "November is not the construction season that we build homes in this part of our state and part of our country."

According to NPR's David Schaper, "the American Red Cross has opened shelters for residents of the affected areas. But authorities estimate thousands of homes were destroyed or were left uninhabitable by the storm, producing a great need for longer term housing."

At least eight people — six of them in Illinois — died from injuries suffered as dozens of twisters touched down. Tuesday's headlines tell more of the story: